Geddy lee inlay question

[thehangingmist]

ok so how do I find out if the blocks on my GL fretboard are real inlaid ones or the painted ones?

ps: i posted this in the geddy lee thread but got no response for days so here it is!

 

[Aspidites]

ok so how do I find out if the blocks on my GL fretboard are real inlaid ones or the painted ones?

ps: i posted this in the geddy lee thread but got no response for days so here it is!

It depends on when it was made.

 

[thehangingmist]

It depends on when it was made.

the serial number tracks to between 02-04.

 

[Mofo-Kang]

I've never seen any convincing proof that any of them ARE painted.

 

[thehangingmist]

I've never seen any convincing proof that any of them ARE painted.

or inlaid!
i was thinking the same thing, so i thought i'd ask if theres a way to find out by looking at it or something

 

[dj5]

My son's Squire VMJ has painted blocks. If you look at them through a lens you can see how an impression of depth is cleverly given by shading, with a tiny line of colour on some of the edges. The effect is very convincing from a small distance, but really close up you CAN see how they've done it - have a look through a lens - you might be able to tell.
(If fender have done this on a more expensive bass, I think it's disgraceful. The description on the Squire site said "blocks", and that's what you should expect to get, not "paint blocks")

 

[thehangingmist]

My son's Squire VMJ has painted blocks. If you look at them through a lens you can see how an impression of depth is cleverly given by shading, with a tiny line of colour on some of the edges. The effect is very convincing from a small distance, but really close up you CAN see how they've done it - have a look through a lens - you might be able to tell.
(If fender have done this on a more expensive bass, I think it's disgraceful. The description on the Squire site said "blocks", and that's what you should expect to get, not "paint blocks")

yeah i can see light colored border like edges out side the block area, i noticed that without a lens heh thats why i thought i'd ask

 

[Darkstrike]

Them tiny lines are actually most likely fillers around the block, so there's no gaps. You really think Squier & Fender are going to go to that trouble painting?

 

[thumpbass1]

There is a thread here on TB somewhere, where one brave TB'er, whom I can't remember, had sacrificed his early edition Geddy's neck to the band saw in the name of TB science. It was genuine black plastic inlay work that his Geddy neck produced. I'm sorry I'm too lazy to do a search and link for the thread this early on Sunday morning. Repeat, it was an inlay job. If Fender did paint the fret markings later on, I couldn't tell you in what years.

 

[fretless Bob]

ive always thought mine looked painted on. Martin at the bass gallery mentioned that he had re-fretted a geddy and discovered that they were painted on.

Dave

 

[ZolkoW]

Them tiny lines are actually most likely fillers around the block, so there's no gaps. You really think Squier & Fender are going to go to that trouble painting?

+1
this tells me it's inlay.
I repaired one VMJ, which had definitely real inlays, with filler at the edges.

 

[thehangingmist]

There is a thread here on TB somewhere, where one brave TB'er, whom I can't remember, had sacrificed his early edition Geddy's neck to the band saw in the name of TB science.

 

[ClassicJazz]

I've never seen any convincing proof that any of them ARE painted.

The early ones were real inlays. Than they switched to painted, this was confirmed when I emailed Fender and asked the question. I had a GL around 3 years ago and you can tell they were painted.

But, I've heard they went back to real inalys. Can't confirm that.

Personally I prefer painted. That neck is thin as it is, so the more wood the better!

 

[fretless Bob]

just cut into the corner of the inlay past the nut and they definitely are plastic on mine, its a pretty early one.

i think i got it around 2004 so i guess its a pretty early one.

 

[Mad_Bassist777]

I have carefully looked mine over and you can see where some of the clear coat seeped in between the inlay and neck. If it's all 100% smooth, they might be painted on.